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National ranking · College Scorecard 2024-25

Top 100 Largest Colleges by Enrollment

According to the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, updated September 2024, these rank as the biggest of 6,243 US colleges by total enrollment - institutional headcount figures reported to the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, with the largest enrolling well over 100,000 students, across all 50 states.

163,164
Largest enrollment
100
Colleges ranked
23,113
#100 enrollment

The list in one line

Every one of America's 100 largest colleges enrolls at least 23,113 students. Southern New Hampshire University is the biggest of all, with 163,164 enrolled.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

163,164
#1 biggest - Southern New Hampshire
23,113
#100 - the cutoff to make this list
100
colleges ranked, all 50 states

Ranked by total reported enrollment (IPEDS); see the methodology for reporting year details.

The 15 largest colleges by enrollment

Total enrollment · live data from the portal database

students

What this shows Large public flagships and online-heavy institutions dominate this list - headcount measures scale, not selectivity or the on-campus experience at any one of these schools.

Source U.S. Department of Education IPEDS As of 2024

Here is where the #100 cutoff (23,113 enrolled) lands among all US colleges:

The bar to make this top-100 list

Total enrollment, IPEDS via College Scorecard

23,113 Top 2% higher than 98% of 5,451 US colleges

0–5,000: 4,700 US colleges (86%). Below this entry. 5,000–10,000: 402 US colleges (7%). Below this entry. 10,000–15,000: 138 US colleges (3%). Below this entry. 15,000–20,000: 78 US colleges (1%). Below this entry. 20,000–25,000: 43 US colleges (1%). This entry sits in this band. 25,000–30,000: 25 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 30,000–35,000: 27 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 35,000–40,000: 13 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 40,000–45,000: 11 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 45,000–50,000: 4 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 50,000–55,000: 2 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 55,000–60,000: 3 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 60,000–65,000: 1 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 70,000–75,000: 1 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 85,000–90,000: 1 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 155,000–160,000: 1 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. 160,000–165,000: 1 US colleges (0%). Above this entry. #100 cutoff 0 165,000 every US college, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Department of Education IPEDS · 2024

# School Name StateEnrollmentCity
1 Southern New Hampshire University NH 163,164 Manchester
2 Western Governors University UT 155,088 Salt Lake City
3 University of Phoenix-Arizona AZ 85,991 Phoenix
4 Grand Canyon University AZ 73,371 Phoenix
5 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ 64,674 Tempe
6 Texas A&M University-College Station TX 59,615 College Station
7 University of Central Florida FL 59,146 Orlando
8 Ivy Tech Community College IN 58,267 Indianapolis
9 Arizona State University Digital Immersion AZ 53,782 Scottsdale
10 Liberty University VA 50,012 Lynchburg
11 University of Maryland Global Campus MD 49,664 Adelphi
12 Miami Dade College FL 46,182 Miami
13 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH 45,638 Columbus
14 Lone Star College System TX 45,188 The Woodlands
15 Purdue University-Main Campus IN 44,503 West Lafayette
16 Brigham Young University-Idaho ID 44,397 Rexburg
17 Dallas College TX 43,869 Dallas
18 The University of Texas at Austin TX 42,855 Austin
19 University of Arizona AZ 42,537 Tucson
20 Tarrant County College District TX 42,300 Fort Worth
21 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA 42,284 University Park
22 Kennesaw State University GA 41,254 Kennesaw
23 Michigan State University MI 40,922 East Lansing
24 Houston City College TX 40,503 Houston
25 American Public University System WV 40,074 Charles Town
26 Florida International University FL 39,508 Miami
27 Valencia College FL 39,486 Orlando
28 California State University-Fullerton CA 38,546 Fullerton
29 University of Houston TX 38,380 Houston
30 Indiana University-Bloomington IN 37,806 Bloomington
31 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ 37,751 New Brunswick
32 University of South Florida FL 37,207 Tampa
33 University of Wisconsin-Madison WI 36,902 Madison
34 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL 36,258 Champaign
35 Texas State University TX 36,177 San Marcos
36 California State University-Long Beach CA 35,924 Long Beach
37 University of Florida FL 35,629 Gainesville
38 San Diego State University CA 35,377 San Diego
39 University of California-San Diego CA 34,948 La Jolla
40 University of North Texas TX 34,341 Denton
41 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI 34,177 Ann Arbor
42 Connecticut State Community College CT 33,645 New Britain
43 University of California-Los Angeles CA 33,475 Los Angeles
44 The University of Alabama AL 33,227 Tuscaloosa
45 University of California-Berkeley CA 33,068 Berkeley
46 Northern Virginia Community College VA 33,048 Annandale
47 Brigham Young University UT 32,952 Provo
48 California State University-Northridge CA 32,691 Northridge
49 Texas Tech University TX 32,394 Lubbock
50 The University of Texas at Arlington TX 32,294 Arlington
51 University of California-Davis CA 32,253 Davis
52 Florida State University FL 32,212 Tallahassee
53 University of Georgia GA 32,137 Athens
54 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA 31,942 Seattle
55 University of Colorado Boulder CO 31,939 Boulder
56 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN 31,855 Minneapolis
57 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA 30,923 Blacksburg
58 Purdue University Global IN 30,828 West Lafayette
59 University of Maryland-College Park MD 30,760 College Park
60 Oregon State University OR 30,743 Corvallis
61 Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College LA 30,594 Baton Rouge
62 The University of Texas at San Antonio TX 30,580 San Antonio
63 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville TN 30,418 Knoxville
64 University of California-Irvine CA 30,197 Irvine
65 Austin Community College District TX 30,189 Austin
66 University of Cincinnati-Main Campus OH 29,882 Cincinnati
67 University of South Carolina-Columbia SC 29,820 Columbia
68 NUC University PR 28,918 Bayamon
69 University of Arkansas AR 28,677 Fayetteville
70 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley TX 28,666 Edinburg
71 New York University NY 28,663 New York
72 Utah Valley University UT 28,453 Orem
73 California State University-Sacramento CA 28,350 Sacramento
74 Colorado Technical University-Colorado Springs CO 28,086 Colorado Springs
75 DeVry University-Illinois IL 27,825 Lisle
76 East Los Angeles College CA 27,753 Monterey Park
77 George Mason University VA 27,752 Fairfax
78 San Jose State University CA 27,601 San Jose
79 North Carolina State University at Raleigh NC 27,371 Raleigh
80 University of Utah UT 27,264 Salt Lake City
81 College of Southern Nevada NV 27,252 Las Vegas
82 Auburn University AL 26,816 Auburn
83 Georgia State University GA 26,623 Atlanta
84 Collin County Community College District TX 26,449 McKinney
85 Mt San Antonio College CA 26,140 Walnut
86 Full Sail University FL 25,777 Winter Park
87 American River College CA 25,621 Sacramento
88 Colorado State University-Fort Collins CO 25,538 Fort Collins
89 Iowa State University IA 25,367 Ames
90 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona CA 25,042 Pomona
91 Broward College FL 24,922 Fort Lauderdale
92 University of Kentucky KY 24,763 Lexington
93 University of Nevada-Las Vegas NV 24,622 Las Vegas
94 University of North Carolina at Charlotte NC 24,453 Charlotte
95 El Paso Community College TX 24,214 El Paso
96 University of Missouri-Columbia MO 23,929 Columbia
97 Florida Atlantic University FL 23,757 Boca Raton
98 University of Massachusetts-Amherst MA 23,671 Amherst
99 Clemson University SC 23,300 Clemson
100 University of California-Santa Barbara CA 23,113 Santa Barbara

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by total enrollment (undergraduate and graduate combined). Only schools with reported enrollment data are included. All data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. See our methodology for how total enrollment is reported to the federal IPEDS survey.

Caveats and limitations

Enrollment size measures scale, not selectivity, quality, or student experience - some of the largest schools here operate heavily online, so their headcount does not translate directly into a comparable on-campus student body. Undergraduate and graduate enrollment are combined into one figure, which can make schools with large graduate or professional programs look larger relative to their undergraduate class size.

Reported enrollment can also include part-time and non-degree-seeking students depending on how each institution submits data to IPEDS, so headcounts are not perfectly apples-to-apples across schools.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute educational advice. Enrollment size measures scale, not fit, quality, or outcomes for any individual student.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard and IPEDS data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2024-25.